The old rules of SEO are crumbling. Thanks to generative AI, search behavior is changing fast, and marketers who cling to outdated playbooks are already feeling the squeeze. Instead of just typing queries into Google and scrolling through ten blue links, users are increasingly relying on AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT, Bard, and Perplexity to get instant, conversational answers. Meanwhile, SEO professionals are scrambling to figure out how to optimize for AI algorithms, whether traditional keywords still matter, and how to stay visible when search engines give direct answers instead of sending traffic to websites. So, what’s actually working in this new reality? How are successful SEO professionals changing their approach? That’s what we set out to discover through our latest Databox research. We surveyed 90+ SEO professionals and digital marketers to understand how generative AI is changing their work and what tactics actually get results in 2025. Here’s what we found out: Key Takeaways from Our Research & DBUG Experts Biggest SEO Strategy Opportunities As AI Keeps Evolving Potential Downsides of Relying on AI-Driven Content for SEO How Will Marketers Adjust Their SEO Approach Going Forward Track Your SEO Performance Through AI Changes with Databox Key Takeaways from Our Research & DBUG Experts Our survey results and DBUG discussions revealed several important takeaways about how marketers are approaching SEO today. From practical tactics to big-picture insights, here are the key points that stood out. About Our Respondents Research Takeaways DBUG Insights About Our Respondents We surveyed a diverse group of marketers and SEO experts to get a clearer picture of how businesses are responding to the changes in search behavior. Most respondents have 50 employees or fewer, which shows especially how small and mid-sized companies are handling the changes. When it comes to company size, 65% of the respondents have less than $5 million of annual revenue. This is particularly valuable because smaller businesses often feel the impact of search algorithm changes more immediately than larger enterprises with bigger budgets. About half of the respondents are marketing or advertising agencies. This perspective is important since agencies work with multiple clients across different industries and have a front-row seat to see how AI and changing search habits are playing out across various sectors. Research Takeaways Let’s start with what tools companies are actually using. Most survey respondents use multiple AI tools for SEO – ChatGPT (86.21%), Ahrefs (64.37%), and Semrush (56.32%). This shows that marketers aren’t just sticking to one tool, but they’re experimenting with different options to stay competitive. When we dug into why companies are bringing AI into their SEO workflows, we found three main motivations that are pretty evenly split. For about 1/3 of respondents, the main reason for implementing AI tools into their SEO workflows was “to improve the depth and quality of content”. Another 30% voted for “to gain better data-driven insights” (e.g., keyword trends, user intent) as the primary reason, and for 29%, the primary reason was “to produce content more quickly at scale”. Despite this widespread adoption, most companies aren’t going all-in just yet. They’re being smart about their approach. About 50% of the respondents describe their overall approach to using AI for SEO as “Moderately proactive: We use AI tools but remain cautious about investing heavily.” When it comes to where they see the biggest opportunities, content remains king. Most companies see the highest potential value for AI in their SEO strategies in Content optimization (e.g., refining existing content for SEO) and Content creation (e.g., drafting or rewriting long-form content). Of course, all of this AI implementation is still serving traditional SEO goals. For most, the primary goals for SEO strategies are increasing organic traffic (82%) and generating leads (72%). Most commonly used AI-driven activities or tools to support SEO efforts include: ChatGPT or similar large language model tools for brainstorming or outlining (75%) AI-powered content creation (e.g., blog posts, product descriptions, images) (67%). The good news is that companies are seeing real results from their AI investments. Most companies reported that adopting AI increased the speed, volume, and quality of their content output for SEO, as well as content variety. But it’s not all smooth sailing. There’s one major challenge that keeps coming up. For more than half of the respondents, ensuring accuracy and factual correctness in AI-generated content is the most challenging aspect of AI adoption when it comes to SEO. Most companies have noticed changes in their audience’s search behavior since the rise of generative AI, with about a third mentioning that users are spending more time on AI-powered chats or direct answers, which is reducing traffic to their websites. To adapt, most companies are taking action. Some common strategies are: Using schema markup and updating site structure or metadata to improve AI-driven search visibility (64.20%) Creating specialized content for AI-generated overviews and niche topics, including formats like Q&A and listicles (59.26%) Optimizing content for voice and conversational AI queries, including the use of long-tail keywords (50.62%) are common strategies When we looked at where traffic is actually coming from right now, traditional SEO is still the clear winner. About 84% of the overall website traffic comes from SEO efforts vs. AI-driven search/answer engines. The same pattern holds true for conversions. About 86% of the conversions is attributed to traditional SEO-driven traffic (compared to AI-driven traffic). However, when it comes to which AI platform is driving the most traffic, there’s a clear leader. About half of the respondents stated that ChatGPT is the generative AI-driven search or answer engine currently driving the highest traffic to their websites. As for the most frequent challenges in implementing strategies to optimize content for AI-driven search engines, the lack of clear guidelines or best practices for AI-driven optimization and uncertainty about AI-generated content accuracy and brand control are the biggest concerns. Finally, visibility in AI-generated overviews and an increase in AI-driven traffic are how companies usually measure the success of their GEO efforts. DBUG Insights To get deeper perspectives on how AI is changing SEO, we spoke with several industry experts during our recent DBUG event. Their insights show both the practical realities and philosophical debates happening in the SEO community right now. Catherine Richards kicked off the conversation by mentioning the constant challenge of optimizing content for changing algorithms while staying focused on human audiences. Reflecting on past experiences with Google’s rules, she expressed a familiar frustration: “We are creating content and experiences for both humans and AI… and there was some skepticism around, based on historical experience with Google. You do a whole bunch of stuff, and then they change the rules, and then you have to do a whole bunch of other stuff, and why are we doing that?” The takeaway is that while AI is changing search, there is still a need to balance strategy between machines and humans. Tyler McConville highlighted that while AI can be powerful, it’s not always perfect: “There isn’t really a single AI for a single use, and people have naturally learned over the years—or even in the past little while—that a specific AI is really good at a certain function but really bad at another. All AIs are extremely bad at doing data processing as well as understanding historical concepts and naturalized concepts that exist in real time, and that causes them to hallucinate.” His point reminds us that human oversight and strategy are still essential, even as AI tools grow more advanced. Ann Smarty, a veteran SEO, pointed out that while AI may feel new, many tactics being used today are familiar: “I don’t think there is anything unique that we are doing for AI optimization. We have been doing stuff like building the brand, co-citation… but keyword optimization is still key. Whether those are questions or keywords, they still give us an idea of what people want to know. So, it’s still SEO, and we are lucky to have the huge experience and deep knowledge of how to optimize for the machine because we are going to do the same. But the tactics, the fundamentals, are the same. We’re just a little bit changing priorities as we see AI platforms developing.” Ann’s view shows that the fundamentals of SEO (understanding what audiences need and delivering value) haven’t changed, even though the tools might be new. Stuart Derman talked about a practical issue many businesses face with AI adoption, and that’s balancing speed and scale with accuracy: His insight shows that even with powerful tools, maintaining large-scale websites still requires careful planning and resource commitment. Kashmala Malik offered a sharp observation about the future of informational queries: “Websites that are targeting informational intent queries are really struggling to survive on search engines. You cannot survive on search engines solely if you are, in the upcoming year, solely targeting informational intent queries. You must have some utilities on your websites, on your platforms, which have some edge on the LLMs.” Her point underlines the need for differentiation right now. Markers need to move from static content and start offering interactive tools and more unique value. Declan Dunn shared a candid perspective on the hype around AI and the need for deeper thinking: “We’re being fed a PR game by big tech. Unlike anything else, what’s the truth? It’s 100% opinion. There’s not a single fact. If you’re waiting for AGI to take over, it’s never going to happen because it would cost too much. We need to realize we have to approach things differently. And what none of us, or at least not just the SEO folks, are doing is thinking like data people, those who understand data, get more from data, listen, and create richer experiences. That’s what AI is meant to do as well. But I think we’re too focused on just creating content.” He says that marketers simply have to prioritize user experience and meaningful insights over simply churning out content in 2025. Ramon Khan offered a hands-on example of how AI can be used creatively to support SEO efforts: “I was able to take a full-page screenshot of my website and then say, can you see the whole page? And then it’s like, okay. Based on our page, what are the different areas where you can create schema? And it was amazing at creating schema… I was able to use it to create a whole calculator without a developer, and he was able to code it, design it, and do everything. And it’s live and ranking number one on Google right now.” Biggest SEO Strategy Opportunities As AI Keeps Evolving While everyone’s worried about AI stealing their traffic, smart marketers are using these same tools to create better content faster and dominate search results. Based on what we learned from our research, here are the strategies that are actually working right now: Automate Content Creation AI-Driven Topical Clustering Focusing on Video Content Easier to Create Detailed Content Frameworks Personalized Content Creation Automate Content Creation With tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and specialized content platforms, companies can generate various content types based on specific prompts and guidelines. You can automate meta descriptions, FAQ sections, product descriptions, and even long-form articles with the right setup. The biggest advantage is speed and consistency. What used to take hours can now be done in minutes, so content teams can focus on strategy and optimization rather than basic content production. Mark Howser of Digital Snowstorm says that his top priority right now is “building a multi-step n8n workflow to automate content creation. Once that’s in place, I’ll develop a second workflow to scale it across the entire content roadmap for each client. The potential with AI-powered workflow automation is enormous; it just takes time to master the setup.” PRO TIP: Is Instagram a part of your content marketing strategy? If so, you can use our free Instagram Business Post Performance Dashboard to get a clearer view of how your content is performing and whether your AI-driven posts are working. It’s all in one place and in real-time. AI-Driven Topical Clustering Instead of just focusing on individual keywords, businesses are using AI to find groups of related topics that can be covered together. This makes it easier to plan content that naturally connects, which can improve internal linking and give search engines clearer signals about what your site is about. For example, instead of writing a single article on “SEO basics,” you’d also create supporting content on related areas like keyword research, link building, and technical SEO. AI tools can suggest these clusters based on real search behavior and gaps in your content. Sheraz Ali of HARO Links Builder says that they’re “already using AI to identify long-tail variations and semantically related subtopics at a scale that would be humanly impossible. This allows us to build highly strategic content silos that closely mirror the way users express search queries in conversational search.” Focusing on Video Content Google loves video, users engage with it more, and AI tools are making video creation way easier than it used to be. And you don’t need a Hollywood budget anymore. AI can help you create video scripts, generate voiceovers, and even produce simple animations. Tools like Loom for screen recordings or AI-powered platforms can turn your existing blog posts into video content in minutes. “One of the biggest opportunities is video content showing in these results, which is already starting to happen. I’ve seen a video included in Google AI Overview results that took me directly to that YouTube video’s timestamp to continue watching the video.” Josh Phillips SEO Manager at Seismic Digital Want to get highlighted in our next report? Become a contributor now Easier to Create Detailed Content Frameworks AI makes building content frameworks incredibly fast. Marketers don’t have to stare at a blank page wondering how to structure a 3,000-word guide anymore since you can get a detailed outline in seconds. You can feed AI your topic and target audience, and it’ll deliver a comprehensive framework with main sections, subheadings, and even suggested points to cover. These content briefs include keyword suggestions, target word counts, and internal linking opportunities. Colton De Vos of Resolute Technology Solutions talked about how “AI-based SEO tools do an incredible job of creating content frameworks with guidelines on the right content length, number and type of keywords, and general direction on writing.” “When combined with a writer who has a good background in the source material and a flair for writing in an engaging manner, it can greatly expedite the SEO writing process.” Personalized Content Creation You can feed customer data, personas, or specific use cases to AI tools and get personalized content for each group. And this goes way beyond changing a few words here and there. AI can adjust tone, examples, pain points, and solutions based on who’s reading. For example, a SaaS company can create the same product guide for startups, enterprises, and mid-market companies, with each version hitting the specific concerns and language that resonates with that audience. Ryan McClellan of Character Counter is one of our respondents who talked about personalized content being a major opportunity for SEO right now: “AI has the ability to analyze user intent and behavior, which can help us tailor content to individual preferences on a much deeper level. This can lead to improved user engagement and higher rankings. Additionally, AI can help us automate parts of content creation, allowing us to scale our efforts and create more targeted, relevant content faster. There still must be a human at the centre of this, I believe it is important for connection to the audience, but AI can help guide, and even brainstorm.” Declan Dunn of The AI Optimist also says that “personalization is a big opportunity right now. Onboarding and retention increase how many of the converted stay, and the old conversion-centric metrics don’t tie together the entire customer experience like AI and scales.” Potential Downsides of Relying on AI-Driven Content for SEO While AI can help speed up content creation, it’s not without its drawbacks. Here are some of the biggest challenges companies are facing with AI content: Accuracy Is a Major Concern Lack of Originality and Depth Content Sounds Too Generic and Lacks Nuance AI Can’t Share Human Experiences Training Data Lags Behind a Few Months Accuracy Is a Major Concern AI gets things wrong. A lot. And when you’re publishing content at scale, those mistakes can seriously damage your credibility and search rankings. The problem is that AI confidently states incorrect facts, outdated statistics, and sometimes completely made-up information. It can’t verify sources in real-time, so it might reference studies that don’t exist or quote statistics from years ago as if they’re current. Donna Duncan of B-SeenOnTop went into detail on how “accuracy and verifiability continue to be a problem. Too many authors quote sources, that quote sources, that quote sources with few digging deep enough to find the original source and confirm its truth and accuracy. I’m seeing that pattern continue with AI-assisted content creation.” Rinea Blanchard of Superior Contract Cleaning also mentioned how “AI can’t fact-check, as it’s trained on data from the internet, which we all know has both facts and inaccuracies. This is why we don’t scale with AI, especially with data-driven articles. It’s simply not accurate a lot of times.” Scott Benson of Benson SEO added that “the accuracy of AI-generated content must be heavily reviewed by SEO and content teams. SEO and content creators must become adept at creating highly informative prompts to create AI content to avoid the accuracy issues.” “Hallucinations are particularly worrying, especially in niche industries. I also notice that much content follows standard and bland AI templates, which don’t address readers’ questions and pain points.” Žiga Lesjak CMO at Tridens Want to get highlighted in our next report? Become a contributor now Lack of Originality and Depth AI content often feels shallow and generic. It regurgitates the same information that’s already ranking, just rearranged with slightly different words. This creates a sea of sameness that doesn’t help anyone. A major problem is that AI simply can’t share personal experiences, run original research, or offer unique insights from years of industry experience. When every company uses AI to write about the same topics, you end up with dozens of articles that say essentially the same thing. Blake Smith of ClockOn talked about how “the biggest concern with AI-driven content is lack of originality and depth, which can weaken EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and reduce rankings over time.” “AI-generated content often lacks nuance, first-hand insights, and unique value, making it harder to stand out. Over-reliance can also lead to algorithmic penalties if search engines prioritize human-created, high-quality content.” Content Sounds Too Generic and Lacks Nuance AI content has a specific “AI voice” that readers can spot from a mile away. It tends to be overly formal, uses predictable phrases, and lacks the personality that makes content actually engaging. The writing feels like it was created by a committee – technically correct but sterile. AI doesn’t understand subtle humor, industry inside jokes, or the casual tone that builds real connections with readers. It defaults to safe, corporate language that doesn’t offend anyone but doesn’t excite anyone either. Ryan McClellan of Character Counter talked about this and added that “while AI can produce content quickly, there’s always a risk of it sounding too generic or missing the nuances that give a brand its unique tone. It’s important for us to balance AI automation with human oversight to ensure content is both accurate and reflective of our brand identity.” AI Can’t Share Human Experiences AI has never actually used the software it’s reviewing, failed at the strategies it’s recommending, or learned hard lessons from real business mistakes. It can’t share the behind-the-scenes stories that make content genuinely useful. When someone writes about building their first email list, they can share the specific moment they realized their subject lines sucked, or the exact mistake that tanked their open rates. AI can only regurgitate best practices without the context of why those practices actually matter. Krupali Gohil of Meetanshi says that “failing to share a human experience is a major problem right now. With AI-driven content, we can, of course, change the content tone and make multiple edits to make it sound right, but a human experience is missing. The way a human would use a tool and share its view would be completely opposite of what AI can do. Where a human experience can touch the real issues, AI can leave us with a generalized view without digging deeper.” Sonja Panic of Modern Talking also talked about how important human experiences can be in her language school business: “AI-generated content can be helpful, but it often lacks the personal touch that makes language learning truly engaging. I’ve seen this first-hand as the owner of a Serbian language school for the diaspora—students connect best with real-life stories and cultural nuances that only a human can provide. AI might be able to translate or generate text, but it can’t replicate the warmth of a shared experience or the authenticity of someone’s journey. That human element is essential when you want to build trust and get a deeper understanding in language learning.” Training Data Lags Behind a Few Months Most large language models are trained on data that’s already a few months old, meaning they can’t accurately discuss the latest regulations, news, or updates in fields like healthcare, law, and politics. This lag can lead to outdated or even incorrect information being presented to readers, which can damage credibility. In areas like patient care guidance, legal advice, or political reporting, this can be very risky. Andrew Clark of CallTrackingMetrics also mentioned how “AI proves repeatedly to be limited by its training data, which usually lags behind by a few months at best and a year plus at its worst.” “This delay in information may produce outdated or completely false outcomes when a prompt is entered. This situation is especially dangerous when the topics may be focused on sensitive topics, such as healthcare, laws, or politics.” How Will Marketers Adjust Their SEO Approach Going Forward The marketers we surveyed aren’t just sitting around waiting to see what happens with AI. They’re already switching up their strategies to stay ahead. Here’s how they plan to approach SEO tactics going forward: Adding More Videos and Interactive Elements Leveraging More Human Insights Focusing More on Structured Data and Schema Enrichment Adding More Videos and Interactive Elements Marketers plan on doubling down on video and interactive content because static text just isn’t as useful anymore. Users expect richer experiences, and search engines are rewarding sites that deliver them. Video content keeps people on your page longer, which sends strong engagement signals to Google. A five-minute explainer video can increase your average session duration way more than a 2,000-word blog post. Interactive elements are also becoming new differentiators. Tools like cost calculators, quizzes, or comparison widgets give users a reason to stick around and interact with your brand. Sonu Kalwar of Digital First AI shared his action plan on this: “In the next year, I’ll change how I do SEO. I’ll make content that answers questions quickly (like AI responses in Google’s SGE) but still keeps depth for readers. I’ll add more videos and interactive elements to stand out. I’ll use AI tools to check trends and automate updates, but I’ll keep refining the strategy with human insight to stay authentic.” PRO TIP: Are you having trouble making sense of your YouTube content performance? If you want an easier way to do it, you can always download our free YouTube Channel Performance Dashboard and get an all-in-one overview of your most relevant metrics, in real-time. Leveraging More Human Insights Marketers are realizing that human experience and expertise are their competitive advantages against AI-generated content. Personal stories, real case studies, and expert opinions can’t be replicated by algorithms. Companies are pushing their subject matter experts to share more personal insights in their content. Instead of generic “how-to” articles, they’re publishing pieces like “What I learned after analyzing 500 failed product launches”. Industry interviews and expert roundups are also becoming more valuable. When you get real practitioners to share their specific tactics, failures, and wins, you create content that stands out from the flood of AI-generated advice. Blake Smith of ClockOn shares that “over the next year, my SEO approach will focus on leveraging more human insights to invigorate content and differentiate it from AI-generated summaries.” This means incorporating first-hand expertise, unique case studies, and real-world examples that AI can’t replicate. Prioritizing thought leadership, interviews, and experience-driven content will help maintain credibility and engagement as AI-driven search evolves.” “We plan to use original data, case studies, and expert opinions to differentiate content. Create longer, in-depth content that satisfies search intent better than AI-generated summaries. Include authentic human insights, personal experiences, and brand storytelling (things AI can’t replicate well).” Kendall Barker SEO Specialist at Amplifyed Want to get highlighted in our next report? Become a contributor now Focusing More on Structured Data and Schema Enrichment Schema markup helps search engines understand exactly what your content is about, which makes you more likely to appear in rich snippets and AI-powered search features. The payoff is immediate and visible. Products with proper schema markup show star ratings, prices, and availability right in search results. Articles with the right markup can appear in featured snippets, while events and FAQs get their own special display formats. AI-powered search engines rely heavily on structured data to understand and categorize content. When ChatGPT or Google’s AI features pull information from websites, they’re often using schema markup as a guide. Sites with clean, comprehensive markup might have a better chance of being cited as sources. Kiersten Thompson of Sales MVP mentioned how they will “prioritize structured data and schema enrichment to keep up.” “We will focus on schema markup (FAQ, How-to, Product) to ensure AI agents can parse and leverage content for AI-generated answers. This includes embedding metadata, entity relationships, and contextually rich snippets to enhance machine readability.” Track Your SEO Performance Through AI Changes with Databox The AI revolution in search is happening whether you’re ready or not. However, you can’t optimize what you can’t measure, and most companies are flying blind when it comes to understanding how AI-powered search affects their traffic. Our research showed that about half of the respondents are struggling to measure ROI from AI-driven search tactics. They know traffic patterns are changing, but they can’t pinpoint exactly where their visitors are coming from or how these new search behaviors impact their bottom line. Databox can help you get clarity on these changes. We’ve built an AI (Generative Search) Traffic Overview Dashboard specifically for this challenge. You can track sessions, signups, bounce rates, and landing page performance from AI search engines all in one place. So, instead of guessing whether ChatGPT or other AI platforms are actually driving valuable traffic, you’ll have the data to prove it. Plus, you can join our Content Marketing and SEO Benchmarks for All Companies group, where you can explore current metric values and compare your performance against industry standards. You’ll see exactly how your SEO performance stacks up against other companies dealing with the same AI-driven changes. Then, with Databox Dashboards, you can track all your key metrics in one place and get a birds-eye overview of what’s happening in real-time. With 120+ integrations, you can connect all your data sources and track everything from organic traffic trends to conversion rates in real-time. No more piecing together data from multiple tools or wondering if your SEO strategy is actually bringing results. If you’re already a Databox user, you can reach out to your account manager and mention the DBUG session or the AI traffic dashboard to get set up. If you’re new to Databox, book a free demo today to see how we can help you track, optimize, and grow your SEO performance (even as the rules of search keep changing).